by Pamela and Charles
Horner
(Except where noted, all photos by Pamela & Charlie Horner)

The vocal groups The Tymes and
Neighbor’s Complaint were celebrated and honored on April 22, 2010 with a
mural at the Trolley Car Dinner, 7619 Germantown Avenue, in the Mount Airy
section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia is the mural
capitol of the world, with over 3000 murals citywide, painted on the sides
of buildings. While previous murals have honored some Gospel quartets
like the Dixie Hummingbirds and Joyland Gospel Singers, this mural is the
first to recognize the contributions of Philly's R&B and Doo Wop vocal
groups.

"Doo Wop Diner" Mural

The Trolley Car Diner itself is a 1952
vintage diner from Wilkes Barre, Pa. that is decorated inside with 1950’s
memorabilia. In front of the diner is an old PTC (Philadelphia Transit
Company) trolley car that functions as an ice cream shop. The owner, Ken
Weinstein is celebrating the diner’s tenth year in business.

The Trolley Car Diner,
7619 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia, PA

Trolley Ice Cream Shop

Pam inside the Trolley
Car Diner

Inside the Trolley Car
Diner

Pam with Peggy Burnett
(wife of Tymes' Norman Burnett)

Artist Jonathan Laidacker designed the
mural and supervised it’s painting. It was a "paint-by-number" technique
that was painted by members of the community. The artist used gray and
black colors to portray large images of the groups as they were in the past.
He then superimposed life size color paintings of some group members as they
are today, using trompe l’oeil (fool the eye) style techniques.

Doo Wop Diner Mural in
its entirty

The Tymes section of the
mural.
Painted contemporary figures from left to right are those of George Hilliard, Donald
Banks
Norman Burnett, diner owner Ken Weinstein and Albert "Caesar" Berry.
(Photo courtesy of Kate Chesbro Photo)

The mural dedication began with diner
owner Ken Weinstein talking about the ten year history of the diner and how
the mural came about. Neighbors Complaint sang at the diner when they
first opened.

Trolley Car Diner Ken
Weinstein addressing the crowd

Next, mural artist Jonathan Laidacker talked about how the
mural was created.

Artist Jonathan Laidacker

The Tymes were asked to come forward and address the
gathering. Tymes' Norman Burnett spoke to the audience about how
honored the group felt to be a part of a Philadelphia mural and the
recognition was a long time coming. Lafayette Gamble led the group in
a live rendition of the song that reached Number 1 on the Pop Charts in
1963, “So Much in Love”. Past and present members of the Tymes were there.

Up next, Neighbors Complaint came to the
podium. The group's lead, Big Murph (Robert Murphy), told about
his singing career with Neighbor’s Complaint. He spoke about groups that
influenced him, including the Orioles and Five Keys. His inspiration to
sing was encouraged by hearing about The Teenagers success and their trip to
England. Yes, like the Tymes, Neighbor’s Complaint is still together
and still singing. The group sang “Why Do Fools Fall in Love”.

(Photo courtesy of Kate
Chesbro Photo)

Classic Urban Harmony's Charlie Horner,
who back in the day acted as one of the group's unofficial managers, wore his
honorary Neighbors Complaint jacket. In the 1980's, Neighbors
Complaint presented Charlie with the jacket when they made him an honorary
(non-singing) member of the group.

The dedication of the
“Doo Wop Diner" mural ended with a vintage yellow Cadillac driving through the
parking lot. The car was the same model used for the mural.
There was much good will and it was about time Philadelphia honored its doo wop singers.